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A seemingly benign number that defines everything from a dozen
eggs and the hours of day and night to the days of Christmas and
the astrological signs, 12 may be in the spotlight today,
12/12/12.

This date structure, in which the same two-digit number gets
repeated three times, won't happen again until next century,
according to the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP). And
this is the last time the same number for the day, month and year
(the last two digits, at least) will occur until Jan. 1, 2101
(01/01/01).

But does the triple dose of 12 hold any meaning? Depends on whom
you ask, but in Hong Kong and Singapore, couples are crowding the
aisles for a chance to tie the knot on a day they say symbolizes
love, according to news outlets. Las Vegas is also abuzz with
nuptials, according
to CNN, which also reported an Indian numerologist saying
today is a great day to start a new business venture. Making the
rounds online, a boy who will turn 12 today at 12:12 p.m. in
Bronxville, N.Y., suggests we're all a bit "number crazy."

Doom isn't far behind the celebrations. While most
believers in the Mayan apocalypse think the end of the world
will come on Dec. 21, 2012, apparently some have interpreted the
end of the
Maya Long Count calendar differently, pinpointing Dec. 12,
2012, as a day of reckoning. (There is no evidence to suggest the
Mayans predicted the end of their calendar to mean the end of the
world.)

Turning doomsday on its head, the ASP has coined today
"Anti-Doomsday."

"While many pundits and prognosticators lament the supposed end
of the world on December 21, 2012 (thanks to misinterpreting
Mayan predictions), here at the ASP we encourage everyone to go
in the opposite – and accurate – direction. Thus, we are
declaring December 12, 2012 as Anti-Doomsday Day in celebration
of rational thinking and reasoned discourse," according to an ASP
statement. [ End
of the World? Top Doomsday Fears ]

And if one were to tie any significance to today, and numerology
in general, the ASP reminds us of plenty of auspicious
associations with the number 12: the months in a year on
contemporary calendars; 12 traditional zodiac signs; 12 Olympic
gods and goddesses in Greek mythology; and 12 bottles of wine in
a case. In Christian belief, Jesus had 12 apostles.

Then there's Mars, which is 12 light-minutes from the sun, and
Jupiter, which takes 12 years to orbit the sun, according to the
ASP.

The most recent triple-digit setup like today's occurred on Nov.
11, 2011 ( 11/11/11 ),
another day some associated with Mayan doom. That day most likely
became linked with Dec. 21, 2012, when believers noticed that the
U.S. Naval Observatory had set the exact time of the 2012 winter
solstice — when Earth's tilt is angled at its farthest from the
sun — for 11:11 Universal Time on Dec. 21, John Hoopes, a scholar
of Maya history at the University of Kansas, told LiveScience
last year. (The Observatory now lists the official time for the
winter solstice at 11:12 Universal Time.)

While the meaning behind numbers, called numerology, has yet to
be grounded in science, humanity seems hard-wired to find such
numerical associations.

"Cognitive scientists have demonstrated that our brains are
hard-wired to look for meaningful patterns in the sensory data it
collects from the world," said Alan Lenzi, professor of religious
studies at University of the Pacific. "Numbers that are already
significant to us, such as calendar dates, that also
coincidentally fall into an obvious pattern become doubly
significant," Lenzi told LiveScience in 2011, speaking about
1/11/11.

Lenzi added, "Given the propensity for people to look for
significance in particular days and times (e.g. the "end of the
world"), patterns are easily imbued with imaginative meaning,"
Lenzi said.

And patterns tend to stick in our heads — you're more likely to
remember a birthday that's on 11/11, 12/12, or 10/10,
than one on 12/5, for instance. The same would be the case for
various times of the day. "People are more likely to remember
11:11 than they are, say, 4:29 or 6:53 or 3:17 or something like
that," Hoopes said.

Editor's Note: This article was updated to
change the year of the next triple-digit date.